Mark Mulliner, Elmhurst Mayoral Candidate

ELMHURST, IL – Mark Mulliner is one of the two candidates for Elmhurst mayor in the April 1 election. The other is Mayor Scott Levin.

Here are Levin's responses to the Patch questionnaire:

Name:

Mark Mulliner

Town of residence:

Elmhurst

Age:

No answer

Campaign contact email:

mark4elmhurst@gmail.com

Family:

Husband, father, grandfather

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education:

Northern Illinois University

Occupation:

Retired

Previous or current elected or appointed office:

Elmhurst Library Board, Elmhurst City Council.

The single most pressing issue facing the city is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Taxes and fees.

Put a hold on the Police Station and Train Station. Review the water rate increases that have been put into effect over the past couple of years. Look for other revenue sources, including the federal government and the infrastructure bill that was passed with water systems included in the bill.

Knowing that the city is a very small part of your tax bill, we need to work with the other government agencies in Elmhurst: Schools, Parks, and Library to find overlaps in spending. Share resources, plans, and ideas by having quarterly intergovernmental public meetings.

We also need to look at reimagining the Industrial Park in north Elmhurst. It’s an older Industrial Park that can be updated to meet the current manufacturing needs.

We need to maintain the City Centre, Spring Road business district, and work on updating the York and Vallette, Lake Street, and North York business districts.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidate seeking this post?

I have a vision of the government agencies working together to consolidate operations, plan, and share the vision for Elmhurst, and the costs that affect everyone of us. As I have stated and have said for years, the City, Parks, Schools, and Library boards need to have quarterly public meetings to plan, share, and implement a vision for Elmhurst with the first and most important part being cost savings for the taxpayer (you and me)!

We need to create a vision for the industrial park in North Elmhurst that will make it our new economic engine. We need to move development to the north part of Elmhurst. We need to maintain the City Centre but we need to put a hold on to more apartments and condos. I know we built some over the past years, but we have enough.

We need put a hold on to new projects. Look for better and cheaper ways to fix our buildings. We can’t keep spending our money.

We need to bring down the water/utility rates.

We need Elmhurst to be a place where people who raised their families can retire here.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

-Locating the New Public Library.

-Navigating the City through the 2007-08 recession without compromising services.

-Developing the flood mitigation plan throughout the city.

-Revitalizing the Downtown area, transforming it into the vibrant destination it is today.

-Enhancing Public Safety by implementing various measures, such as the deployment of Black and White Police Vehicles, Red Fire Vehicles, the Citizens Police Academy, SALT, and Social Workers within the Police Department.

-Collaborating with ComEd to fortify the Elmhurst Electric Grid against potential storms.

-Ensuring the continued operation of family-owned businesses and restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

-Championing the preservation of the American Legion as a vital component of Elmhurst.

-Organizing the Memorial Day Caravan “Parade” to maintain the parade tradition during the pandemic.

-Developing the final Downtown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) project to include parks and schools, thereby sharing TIF resources with these entities.

-Serving on the City, Parks, and Schools committee to identify cost-saving measures for taxpayers.

-Maintaining the City’s AAA bond rating and keeping taxes low.

Are the city government's taxes too high, too low or just about right? Explain.

Currently, taxes and fees are just too high. If you look at your tax bill, it is only about 15% of the bill that goes to the city and library. And it’s easy to say that “we have not raised taxes” when you raise fees all over the place. People don't see your tax bill because most of the time it's included in your mortgage, so you don't realize how high your property taxes have gone up. And people who rent don’t understand that when the rent goes up sometimes that is due to the taxes, or water/utility bill going up. The same is true of HOA fees, many times in it because of taxes, but more often because water/utility rates have increased and that’s included in their HOA.

When you look at social media and the posts are all talking about water rates being out of control. You see posts, “Quick question , does anyone know how much of the water bill changes? Our washer machine broke since November. We haven’t done laundry here at all. We go to a laundromat. The teens have been going to the gym every day and taking showers there after exercising. I thought our bill would be less since all the changes in the last couple of months, and to my surprise, it’s still the same amount for the past 6 bills. How is this possible? (bill is $514.18)” or “Did anyone else's water bill increase again?” or “Our water bill is so high that we only take a shower 3 times a week, and it’s 2 of us.”

We all need to pay attention to why our bills are going up and we are paying exorbitant amounts.

If you want to park in downtown, your parking rate has gone up because they didn't focus on the fact that when COVID happened, nobody was going downtown. Only 62% of the people go downtown, so another funding vehicle had to be identified to pay for the parking.

How do you feel about the downtown apartment and condo development in recent years?

We spent years rebuilding City Centre, starting with York Theater and the first TIF district. One of the ways to build a downtown is to create a group of people who live within walking distance of the City Centre, but there is a limit to the amount of apartments and condos that a city our size can handle. Every time that an apartment complex or condo unit was built in the downtown, I asked staff to make sure that we weren’t overbuilding. I knew that Elmhurst was at its limit with the last development. Not just because we had enough units for today, but looking 20 years down the road. Elmhurst has enough apartments and condos for now and the near future. We have built a City Centre that is a destination for Elmhurst residents and people from outside of Elmhurst.

What is your view of the city's maintenance of its infrastructure?

The city has done a good job of maintaining the city’s infrastructure. We need to continue our work to maintain the infrastructure and the buildings that the city owns, so we don’t have to replace them every 20 to 30 years.

Has the city done a good job in handling stormwater issues?

The city has done a good job addressing the stormwater issues, with the understanding that there are few areas remaining that need to be addressed. The Spring Road business district and the Crestview area. The most important part now is to continue to maintain the flood mitigation projects so that we reduce the impact of any more flooding events.

What is your assessment of the police department's performance?

I fully support the Elmhurst Police Department and its members. We have the best of the best when it comes to our police department personnel. We as a city need to make sure that our police department has the best training and most effective technology and tools necessary to keep the residents of Elmhurst safe.

Does the city need a new police station? Why or why not?

The Elmhurst Police Station was built in the 1980s during the Mayor Quinn administration. The old police station was located on Schiller Drive and was unsafe. There was an entrance off the sidewalk in the front of the building that the officers would have to bring an offender into across the sidewalk and up the stairs. There was not a “sally port” or garage to protect the officer and the offender. There was a need for a new police station. At the time, the city council made the decision to build the station at its current location. The architect that was selected to design the station was a highly rated firm from Chicago. When the station was designed, the City Council, City Staff, and the Elmhurst Police Department staff were all consulted on the needs and the design.

For the past 10 years or so, the City Council has been talking about the need to replace and/or repair and/or add on to the police station. I know that the design team determined that we need to replace the station. Times change, and sometimes we need to look at things differently. The cost to replace the police station is about 48 million dollars. The city can take out bonds to pay for the station, but this is not the time. We need to pay down the bonds we have and rethink what is the best way to fix the police station and make it meet our needs. It has been said it’s only $53 on a $500,000 house, but that is $106 on a lot of homes in Elmhurst. A hundred here, a hundred there, that starts to add up and it’s real money. Taxes are too high for everyone.

Do you support a property tax increase, in part, to pay for the new station?

No

What is your view of the city's decision last year to raise water and sewer rates by 28 percent?

We should not have raised the rate to that level. It is so easy to stay that we don’t raise the property taxes when you raise fees. We need to understand that people don’t have an endless pot of money. We need to check with other cities and organizations to see how they address the water issues and work together to come up with solutions. Elmhurst doesn’t need to be on the bleeding edge of issues; it needs to work with others to come up with the most cost-effective solution and then work to get our tax money back from the state and federal government to pay for projects. Just look to social media and see what people think about the water rate issues; you see posts like this, “Quick question , does anyone know how much of the water bill changes? Our washer machine broke since November; we haven’t done laundry here at all. We go to a laundromat. The teens have been going to the gym every day and taking showers there after exercising. I thought our bill would be less since all the changes in the last couple of months, and to my surprise, it’s still the same amount for the past 6 bills. How is this possible? (bill is $514.18)” or “Did anyone else's water bill increase again?” or “Our water bill is so high that we only take a shower 3 times a week, and it’s 2 of us.” People are hurting, and we need to help them.

Should the mayor and aldermen take political contributions from city contractors or those with zoning or other matters before the council? Why or why not?

As the rules are now, you can take money from city contractors and/or people or groups with issues in front of the city council. If I had my way, only individuals would be allowed to give to candidates. But that is not the rule, and until the rules are changed, we all need to play by the same rules.

Should the city allow video gambling or recreational marijuana sales in town?

Two different issues: Even though I don’t condone gaming, it has an effect on current businesses in Elmhurst. People can go to Villa Park and can game; they can buy a lottery ticket at a convenience store. Many people are gaming on their phones at the bars currently. I believe it is something that needs to be looked at for Elmhurst. I would never support the stand-alone gaming stores, but for current local businesses with Elmhurst controls, it is something that we need to review.

No to marijuana sales.

Should the city do anything to make housing more affordable in town? Why or why not?

Currently, we have about 9% of the housing in Elmhurst that is affordable. Developers have come to Elmhurst over the years wanting to put in affordable housing, but taxes and fees have been climbing over the past couple of years. Water rates and other fees are going up. Until we get the taxes and fees under control, we will have a very hard time creating affordable housing.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

No

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Taxes and fees have been climbing over the past couple of years. Water rates and other fees are going up.

We need to have the City, Parks, Schools, and Library boards meet quarterly in public meetings to discuss our 6-month, 1-year, 2-year, and 5-year plans, so that we can look for overlaps and places that we can work together. I believe that we need to share more resources: the city garage, the services that we provide ( snow plowing and lawn mowing), technology, etc.

We should long-term have a government center with all government offices in one location.

We as a city need to follow up on our TIF plans and help to fund capital projects for the parks and schools with TIF dollars. As we should have and still should do for the new park on the underpass and the projects in Wilder Park. I put the downtown TIF together to make sure the TIF money was used to offset the costs of those projects.

We need to stop coming up with reasons to say why we can’t share resources and start coming up with ways to share resources. Remember, it’s our MONEY!

We need to celebrate the 250th birthday, so I am proposing Elmhurst 2026 - Celebrating the 250th birthday of the USA.

In 2026, the United States will be celebrating its 250th birthday. Elmhurst 2026 will be a community-wide celebration of the 250th anniversary of the USA. We will have the schools, parks, churches, other community service groups, seniors, and the youth all come together and have monthly events and a community-wide event on July 4th with a party in downtown Elmhurst, a concert, and a drone show.

Like you, Mark calls Elmhurst his hometown. Over the past couple of years, our taxes have been going up by a hundred here and a hundred there, adding up to real money; water rates have gone up to the point where some people can’t afford to take a shower every day. Taxes and fees are too high!

Mark will work to restore and preserve the quality of life that you have come to value in our community.

Vote Elmhurst - Vote Mulliner.

Your vote matters to Elmhurst!

Your vote matters to me!

For more information, go to Mulliner4Mayor.com.

Please make sure you vote on or before April 1st for me, Mark Mulliner.